Businesses
Businesses are buildings which provides a player with coins, experience (XP) and collection items. One energy is needed to collect from a business. Goods are also required to supply businesses in order for them to operate. New businesses can be obtained by increasing population, completing certain goals or collections, or having a certain amount of neighbors. With the exception of the Empty Lot, all businesses bought in the Build Menu are only a Framework, which must be built to complete the construction. A player may start a Franchise by building a Business identical to their own in a neighbors's Empty Lot. These shops are handled by the mayor of the city where they stand. Once every 24 hours you can supply each shop from the Franchise Headquarters as well as collecting income. Regardless of the activity of the owner of the store's location, the needed supplies and the payout will be the same. However, the neighbor will need to accept supplies on a daily basis or else the player will not be able to send more. Building a new business Businesses can be found in the "Businesses" tab of the Build Menu. The player will need to have enough coins to purchase the business. Some businesses require the player to be a certain level, have a set amount of neighbors, have a particular population or to have unlocked their use by completing one of the game's goals. Like houses and community buildings, businesses require building and are basic construction zones when they are originally placed. The construction zones are the same size as the building will be upon completion. The player then must use their energy to complete the building. This can vary from building to building - some businesses require 3 build actions (thus 3 energy), and others can require 7 or 8 build actions, or more. Your neighbors can help you with building when they visit your city - if your building is incomplete, they can use one of their help actions to boost it. Once the build actions are completed, the building becomes ready to use immediately, unlike community buildings. Before a business receives goods for the first time, it has a different appearance than it will in the long-term - it is surrounded with balloons to suggest a "grand opening". As soon as the player provides a business with its first supplies, the balloons will detach from the building and float away. Maintaining businesses To keep businesses running, a player will be required to supply it with goods. These goods can be collected by the player through farming, shipping, trains and other methods. Unless the business is fully stocked with supplies, citizens cannot shop there. If a player does not have enough goods to cover the full supply needed (e.g. 140 goods for a cinema), they can't supply it. Once a business has received supplies of goods, citizens will begin visiting the business. A player can monitor how many people have visited their business by hovering over the building with the cursor. It will read, for example: "Served: 17/110". The speed between delivering new supplies and the building becoming ready for collection depends on how many citizens the city has (population), and how many other businesses are also available. Therefore, if a player supplies their Sushi Bar but has no other businesses available, their citizens will only have one place to shop - so it will be ready for collection very quickly. A player with a low population will find their businesses become ready for collection much slower than a player with a very high population. Businesses available }Varies | Varies |4x4 |Increasing Neighbors | Varies |1 | style="vertical-align: top;"| |- | |Bakery | | | |3x3 | |4 |5 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Just Desserts Collection |- | |Flower Kiosk | | | |3x3 | |3.8 |5 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Garden Collection |- | |Coffee Shop | | | |3x3 | |3.2 |2 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Early Riser Collection |- | |Toy Store | | | |3x3 | |3.6 |5 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Game Collection |- | |Burger Joint | | | |3x3 | |3.2 |5 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Fast Food Collection |- | |Video Game Store | | | |3x3 | |5 |26 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Game Collection |- | |Diner | | | |3x3 | |4.6 |7 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Comfort Food Collection |- | |Cosmetic Store | | | |3x3 | |4.8 |16 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Forever Young Collection |- | |Pool Hall | | | |4x4 | |4.2 |6 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Watering Hole Collection |- | |Bike Shop | | | |3x3 | |4.4 |8 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Fitness Collection |- | |Bookstore | | | |3x3 | |4.3 |7 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Bookworm Collection |- | |Packing Store | | | |3x3 |Add 2 more neighbors to unlock |4.3 | | style="vertical-align: top;"|? |- | |Seasonal Clothing | | | |3x3 |Cityville Cash |4.6 |n/a | style="vertical-align: top;"|Perfect Fit Collection |- | |Hot Cocoa Shop | | | |3x3 |Cityville Cash |4.41 |n/a | style="vertical-align: top;"|Early Riser Collection |- | |Shoe Store | | | |3x3 | |4.4 |7 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Designer Collection |- | |Noodle Shop | | | |3x3 | or Cityville Cash |4.5 |10 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Lunar New Year Collection |- | |City Dojo | | | |3x3 | |4.5 |9 | style="vertical-align: top;"| |- | |French Restaurant | | | |3x3 | |4.5 |10 | style="vertical-align: top;"|French Cuisine Collection |- | |Laundromat | | | |3x3 | |4.48 |10 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Perfect Fit Collection |- | |Tofu Burger | | | |3x3 | |4.41 |10 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Retail Collection |- | |Sunglasses Store | | | |3x3 | |4.45 |11 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Designer Collection |- | |Department Store | | | |4x4 |? |4.35 |14 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Retail Collection |- | |City Supermarket | | | |4x4 | |4.38 |11 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Retail Collection |- | |Italian Restaurant | | | |3x3 | |4.3 |11 | style="vertical-align: top;"| |- | |Appliance Store | | | |3x3 |15 City Cash |4.5 |n/a | style="vertical-align: top;"|Houseware Collection |- | |Seafood Restaurant | | | |3x3 | |4.35 |13 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Surf and Turf Collection |- | |Handbag Store | | | |3x3 | |5.45 |16 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Designer Collection |- | |Sushi Bar | | | |3x3 | |5.5 |21 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Asian Cuisine Collection |- | |Wedding Store | | | |3x3 | |5.4 |22 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Bridal Collection |- | |Cinema | | | |4x4 | |5.35 |134 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Silver Screen Collection |- | |Chic Boutique | | | |3x3 | |5.3 |315 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Perfect Fit Collection |- | |Jewelry Store | | | |3x3 | |5.35 |603 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Bling Collection |- | |Furniture Store | | | |3x3 | |5.4 |869 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Home Furnishings Collection |- | |Music Store | | | |3x3 | | 5.4 |1022 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Home Entertainment Collection |- | |Tower Eats | | | |4x4 |Available at the start |5.45 |1112 | style="vertical-align: top;"|Surf and Turf Collection |- | |Corner Store |''not buyable'' | | |3x3 |Pea Collection |4.5 |n/a | style="vertical-align: top;"|Convenience Store Collection |- | |Tavern |''not buyable'' | | |3x3 |Down Town Collection |4.4 |n/a | style="vertical-align: top;"|Watering Hole Collection |- | |Tuxedo Rental |''not buyable'' | | |3x3 |Jet Setter Collection |4.6 |n/a | style="vertical-align: top;"|Bridal Collection |- | ' ' |Fireworks Shop |''not buyable'' | | |3x3 |Time To Go Lunar |4.45 |n/a | style="vertical-align: top;"|Lunar New Year Collection |- | |Spa |''not buyable'' | | |4x4 |Collect them all |5.35 |n/a | style="vertical-align: top;"| |- | |Shamrock Sing-A-Long | | | |4x4 | |4.5 | | style="vertical-align: top;"|St. Patrick's Collection |- | |St. Patty's Pub | | | |3x3 |Complete St. Patty's Pub |4.7 | | style="vertical-align: top;"|St. Patrick's Collection |- | |Fiddle Shop | | | |3x3 | |4.47 | | style="vertical-align: top;"|St. Patrick's Collection |- |file:///Users/jamiehollypilon/Desktop/75-27-16g81l8.png |Jeans Store |120 zCoins | | |3x3 |zLevel 40 |4.5 | | style="vertical-align: top;"| |- |file:///Users/jamiehollypilon/Desktop/75-29-16g81md.png |Lamp Store |110 zCoins | | |3x3 |zLevel 50 |4.45 | | style="vertical-align: top;"| |- |file:///Users/jamiehollypilon/Desktop/75-28-16g81lp.png |DVD Rental Store |120 zCoins | | |3x3 |zLevel 50 |4.48 | | style="vertical-align: top;"| |} Cost and efficiency Like all things in CityVille, it is fair to assume that higher level businesses will be more profitable than lower level businesses. There are a number of different ways to calculate profit capabilities of a business. 'Building size and decoration bonuses' The bonus payout that a building recieves from Decorations is dependent upon how you choose to place decorations around a building. However, larger buildings have a larger surrounding in which they can recieve bonuses- meaning that 4x4 business can potentially gain a larger decoration bonus than a 3x3 business. Because so many more decorations can be placed around a 4X4 business like a Cinema or Tower Eats, with strategic decoration placing they can become the most profitable businesses in the game, far surpassing the wedding store. For a 3X3 business the maximum current possible bonus is 606% using cash for decorations (6 Ole Windmills, 8 Lion Bush Sculptures, 8 Tennis Courts, and 1 Tiered Fountain) or 216% using coins for decorations (38 Flowers, 8 Rocky Hills, 1 Tiered Fountain). For a 4X4 business the maximum current possible bonus is 814%% using cash for decorations (2 Ole Windmills, 11 Lion Bush Sculptures, 11 Tennis Courts, and 1 Tiered Fountain) or 284% using coins for decorations (46 Flowers, 11 Rocky Hills, 1 Tiered Fountain). Whether using coins or cash, decorations can significantly improve the output of your businesses. With an over 200% lead 4X4 businesses are the way to go for maximum money making potential. You need only setup one busines in your city with the maximum ammount of decorations around it, then you just move businesses in and out of this setup as you collect from them- however moving and collecting from businesses like this will prevent you from getting a large bonus from the bonus bar. This use of decorations can be used well with the advise from the Total Profit Per Energy Section to maximize profit. 'Supply size and collection energy' All businesses take energy to collect earnings from them. The less supplies it takes to stock a business, the more energy per supply the business requires for you to collect from it. A Bakery for instance takes 10 goods to stock, so it will take 10 energy to collect earnings from 100 goods from a bakery, where as it takes 1 energy to collect earnings from 100 goods from a Coffee Shop. 'Revenue per good' Revenue per good is calculated by dividing the amount of coins earned when collecting from a business by the amount of goods required to supply. By this logic, we can calculate how much each individual good which is placed into the business becomes worth. It is, of course, more profitable if your goods convert to a larger profit upon collection. The below chart lists all businesses in order of how their good-to-revenue ratio works out, starting from lowest to highest. Based on this chart, the Sushi Bar is the most profitable business at 5.5 coins per good and the Burger Joint is the least profitable business at only 3.2 coins per good. However, this chart does not take into account a number of factors, such as decoration placement, the value of energy, space taken (or TCO) or investments. 'Investments' Technically, your business does not begin to make "profit" until you have paid off the original price of the business through collecting revenue from it. This is something to take into consideration if considering whether to purchase a new business - how long it will take before you have earned as much money from the business as you spent on building it. This is not a very accurate way of deciding whether or not a business is worth the purchase, as other factors have to be taken into consideration. For example, a Bakery has paid itself off in only 5 collections, whereas a Handbag Store requires 16 collections to become profitable. However, the energy cost of a Bakery may heavily outweigh the benefits of its profitability. Therefore, the following chart should not be taken as a guide to which businesses are worth purchasing and does not take into consideration the placement of decorations or the revenue per good. However, it can be helpful to refer to this chart when deciding whether or not to place one of the top end businesses such as Tower Eats. As the chart below shows, the expensive businesses take a lot 'of revenue collections before they start generating profit. Note: The CityVille cash businesses have been calculated using the conversion 15 cash = 1,000 coins, based on the current prices provided by Zynga for purchasing in-game money. As shown in the above table, Tower Eats requires over 1,000 collections before it can become profitable. If we assume that a player is collecting perfectly from Tower Eats at every energy replenishment (5 minutes), this means it would take 92.6 hours before the business started profiting. Therefore, it would seem much more profitable to focus on less expensive businesses. 'Total Profit per Energy If energy is the limiting factor in the game, a very important measure would be the amount of revenue gained from each energy (or 100 energy). This would take into consideration the amount of energy taken to farm or ship the goods required to supply the business. First we would calculate how much energy is required for one collection, including the energy or partial energy required from tending the crop. We can then figure out how much energy is devoted to collecting and how much is devoted to growing giving us revenue - cost of goods. The whole formula would be (100/(1+(Goods Required/Goods per Crop))*Earnings)-((100-(100/(1+(Goods Required/Goods per Crop))))*Crop Price). Significantly, this shows us that if you are growing anything over strawberries (or your neighbors pick your crops for you), you make more money per energy simply going for the business with the highest earnings. Earnings per good is only relevent with low yield crops and when faced with businesses with the same amount of required goods. While the Sushi Bar has the highest earnings per good, it is only better than the Seafood and Italian Restaurants before the Handbag and Wedding Store become more profitable per 100 energy. Furthermore, if you grow corn, a Wedding Store will net you about 28800 coins, a Cinema 29484 and Tower Eats 32280. It will take you nearly 100 days using all your energy collecting from a Tower Eats to finally surpass a Wedding Store in profitability if you consider building cost. It will take a Cinema 20 days. The Wedding Store may be the better option if space is at a premium or have your neighbors franchise a more expensive business into your city. New Additions On 22nd January 2011, two new businesses became available - Laundromat and Appliances Store. On 23rd January 2011, two new businesses became available - Tofu Burger and City Supermarket. On 24th January 2011, another new business became available - Department Store. 'Laundromat' Cost: 5000 coins Earnings: 515 Supply: 115 Earnings/Supply: 4.48 Size: 3x3 Requirements: Unknown According to coins-per-good calculations, Laundromats earn 4.47 coins per good invested into the business, which places them in the middle of the profitability scale, below French Restaurants and above Sunglasses Store. 'Appliances Store' Cost: 25 CityVille cash Earnings: 405 Supply: 90 Earnings/Supply: 4.5 Size: 3x3 Requirements: Unknown According to the coins-per-good calculations, Appliances Stores earn 4.5 cash per good invested, which places it in the middle of the profitability scale, at exactly the same rate of return as a French Restaurant. 'Tofu Burger' Cost: 5000 coins Earnings: 507 Supply: 115 Earnings/Supply: 4.41 Size: 3x3 Requirements: 1100 Population 'Grocery Store' Cost: 5750 Earnings: 569 Supply: 130 Earnings/Supply: 4.37 Size: 4x4 Requirements: 1250 Population 'Department Store' Cost: 8000 Earnings: 588 Supply: 135 Earnings/Supply: 4.35 Size: 4x4 Requirements: Completion of level 13 retail goals See also *Franchises Category:Businesses